Sideways
by Atheniandream
Summary: He feels like he knows this man, far more than he should, for an apparent stranger. One-Shot.


**Author's notes:**

 _So, my day got completely cancelled. And 100 is looming. So, I reworked this. It's little, but didn't want it lost in tumblr._

 **This is to Harvey and Donna. May they forever be the north star in each other's sky. Happy 100 Guys. Love from A_**

. . . . . . . . . .

 **SIDEWAYS**

 **By Atheniandream**

 _You know it ain't easy_  
 _For these thoughts here to leave me_  
 _There's no words to describe it_  
 _In French or in English_  
 _Well, diamonds they fade_  
 _And flowers they bloom_  
 _And I'm telling you_  
 _These feelings won't go away_

 _They've been knockin' me sideways_  
 _They've been knockin' me out lately_  
 _Whenever you come around me_  
 _These feelings won't go away_  
 _They've been knockin' me sideways_  
 _I keep thinking in a moment that_  
 _Time will take them away_  
 _But these feelings won't go away_

 _'Sideways' by Citizen Cope_

. . . . . . .

Mark looks up casually, in hearing the door chime, to observe a man, tall like himself but chiselled in an overly exaggerated way, with a steel grey suit and a light blue tie as he makes his way over to him. He has eyes that look like they could burn clean through metal as they direct themselves towards him.

" _Mark Meadows_ , I presume." The man says, walking towards him with a sharpness to his demeanour.

 ** _It clicks then._**

 _The attitude._

 _The swagger._

He feels like he knows this man, **_far more_ **than he should, for an apparent stranger.

He smiles to himself, then. "Wow, _you really have some balls, coming here_ …" He observes, putting down the piece of wood that he's working on, as he wipes his hands on his pants, freeing the powdery dust from his fingertips. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a meeting?" He asks the man.

"So, _you...know who I am_?" The man clarifies, his lips pressing in a line as his chin lifts with a guardedness.

He regards the man, then. He's a touch younger than himself, a little fitter. Slightly broader set with a slickness to him. He wonders _all at once_ what Donna really sees between them both. They are like lightning and a cool breeze.

" _The pressed suit. Surly demeanour. Arrogant pause._ I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say…you're the infamous Harvey Specter?" He quips dryly, his words less than a question as he straightens then.

He's aware of the tired look on his own face at the presence of such a man, who right now sticks out like a sore thumb in his grounded world. _Probably hailing from an Ivory Tower, too…_

Harvey's own face changes then, softening out into a curtness. "Listen. I'm not here to pick a fight with you," He tells him, his eyebrows bending.

Mark half-chuckles to himself, slightly in awe of the situation at hand. " _Of course_ you're not." He tells him simply. "You...lost." He says.

He watches the younger man's face bend then with an immediate bluntness. " ** _Excuse me_**?" He remarks, stepping forward slightly, so that they're almost in the region of being toe to toe, if it weren't for the table he's surrounded by.

"Well...Donna finally decided to put herself _first,_ for once." Mark states, matter of factly. "Youre not here to fight me because it wouldn't be in your best interests to, and luckily I'm _not_ a fighting man. So why don't you tell me why you're **_really_** here, Mr Specter?" He offers, playing the game.

 ** _There's no point in aggravating a man like Harvey Specter. The city is rife with his reputation. He may be a shitty person. But he's a shark. And a good one. Donna is his only leverage against a man like him. And even that - he supposes - stands on a knife-edge at this point..._**

"I don't know what she told you about me, but-" Harvey starts. Mark interrupts him, feeling a play. Like he's being sold something that'll cost him dearly.

"She told me enough back then, to know that you were _too selfish_ to put her first," He states, rocking on his heels for a moment before looking the man in the eye. "And she's told me enough _now_ to know that _that_ hasn't changed in _over 6 years_. And now she's had enough of it."

He can see that the Lawyer wants to fire words back at him, his natural fire igniting in his gait and his firmly set jaw. _But he's right._ And they both know it. With Donna, he's been selfish for so long. Or so she tells him. And she's a reasonable human being. She wouldn't say that about a person if it weren't true. He's just thankful, she's moving past it all.

He watches a contemplation streak across the man's face.

"Mark, _I'm going to level with you_ ," Harvey says, his head tilting somewhat.

"Oh yeah?" Mark smiles, feeling out of body in this strange situation.

"I've been in love with Donna for nearly fifteen years. I made a mistake back then, by asking her to come to the firm with me, and making her think I didn't want to be with her. I made up a position and paid her salary because I knew she was the only thing that made me a better person. I cant take that back. _I know that._ But I don't regret it. Now…you can think what you like about me. But I'll wager that she didn't tell you everything about us."

He frowns then. Now it makes the kind of sense that gives him a distaste in his gut. So, _Donna Paulsen is Harvey Specter's Achilles Heel… The rumours were true, after all._

Mark feels his chest puff out then, coming toe to toe with this beguiling man that seems to have had a hold on this beautiful woman for far too long.

"So, why are you telling _me_ this, and not _her_?" He asks, frowning in confusion.

He watches the man's expression change in a flash. "Because…I wanted to give you the respect, of letting you know: I'm gonna get her back. Maybe not tomorrow, but some day soon. And that _ring_ you gave her…is _not_ going to stop me." He smirks.

" ** _Can't you just let her be happy_**?" He fires at him. "If you loved her enough, you'd let her go."

"I could. But I know that at the end of the day… ** _she and I_** …are meant to _be_ together." He says. "She knows it. It's why she always came back before." He says. "And maybe…it'll take a while. Difference is, this time, _she won't see me coming for her_." He says, before turning on his overly polished brown heel.

"You seem to have it **all** worked out," He calls to the Lawyer, causing him to stop. "But aren't you afraid that I'll tell her? Spoil your overly confident plan?" He warns, the words hanging on the edge of a threat.

"No." Harvey smirks warmly, shaking his head.

The expression gives him another jagged twitch in his gut. "Why not?" Mark asks the man.

"Because… ** _you're afraid that I'm right_**." Harvey states, looking about the place for a moment with a superiority.

Mark swallows, the feeling like he Just. Got. _Served._

"Nice to meet you, Mark." He hears behind him before watching the man wander out of his shop.

. . . . . . .

* * *

A_


End file.
